Starting January 1st you will no longer be able to drive while operating/holding a handheld device of any sort. Your device MUST be mounted/not in your hand while the car is in motion and you may only operate your device when your vehicle is stopped. http://www.iihs.org/iihs/news/deskt...ce-crashes-effects-are-slight-crash-increases And here's a link to a study that shows that 3 out of the 4 states that have implemented this law have shown an INCREASE in crashes. I, for one, am going to enjoy dying in a head on collision because someone decided to circumvent the law and will instead just look straight down into their laps, where their phones are, while driving.
You cannot teach people to be conscious drivers or force good behavior by banning cell phone use. People act inside of their car as they act everywhere else. Reckless people are reckless and cause wrecks.
Austin municipal lawmakers will learn this, once the fatalities and crashes pile up. All this does is force me to spend money buying a mounting bracket for my phone...
Maybe lawmakers should try being more strict in handing out drivers licenses if they want to make the roads safer.
I don't have a problem with this ordinance, but shouldn't it encompass additional distracting things? I would have to guess that eating in your car while driving is just as distracting as using a phone and people do that all the time.
We need to remove the human element from behind the steering wheel, or strictly give out licenses only to the most qualified and mature drivers. Also, since people will keep texting secretly in their lap, we need to what Perth, Australia is doing. http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/wes...154892109?nk=79750fc087c2f894d4d7c98de934e9d8 Video link (where bike cop catches drivers red-handed texting): http://www.perthnow.com.au/video/id...A-drivers-caught-by-new-unmarked-police-bikes
Is it really that common? I've yet to see anyone eating while driving. Maybe people taking a fry or two out of a to-go bag of fast food, but full on eating while driving? Never seen that.
Bad drivers will bad drive. Also, I like how they're encouraging MOUNTING the phones, like looking over to the mount will make it better even if they have both hands on the wheel... LOLs. NO.
Yep. And putting on lipstick. And brushing their teeth. Some people just get easily distracted and/or bored while behind the wheel. I'm not against this handheld device ordinance, but I don't see it changing much. My car has built-in smartphone integration so this ordinance means little to me.
Huh. I didn't realize it was this common. My commute is different from the rest of you guys's. I commute to college, I guess people commuting to/from work are more prone to eating in their cars?
GPS's have been mounted for years, and they haven't caused any problems. It's not like you're supposed to be texting with the phone on the mount. It's meant for GPS, voice-activated dialing, Bluetooth, etc.
I use google maps. Its no more dangerous to have the GPS in my hand, phone screen in front of your eyes so that you can use your peripheral vision to maintain (limited) spatial awareness. If I have to look over to the mount to see my GPS directions then I am taking my eyes off the road almost entirely. Anyways this just seems like a massive cash grab for municipal government. They'll make a killing off of all those ACL/SXSW/FunFunFunFest tourists.
I think you may have missed the point about the distractions: GPS's don't receive texts or phone calls or app notifications. (or do they? )
